Principal cast
Tom Skerritt as Dallas, Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, Veronica Cartwright as Lambert, Harry Dean Stanton as Brett, and John Hurt as Kane
Film 191 of 244 on the Screen Path
Alien
In space no one can hear you scream.
About the film
Alien at a glance.
Screen Path places this 1979 film at stop 191 in one curated journey through cinema. The learning experience adds context before you watch and deeper analysis after.
During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.
Key craft credits
Derek Vanlint (director of photography), Peter Weatherley (editor), Terry Rawlings (editor), Jerry Goldsmith (original music composer), and Dan O'Bannon (screenplay)
- Director
- Ridley Scott
- Release
- 1979-05-25
- Runtime
- 117 minutes
- Genres
- Horror and Science Fiction
- Country
- United States
- Quiz
- 50 questions
The Screen Path journey
Before. After. Remember.
The featured film is watched outside Screen Path. The app provides the learning experience around it: a guide, an analysis, and a quiz with explanations.
01
Before you watch
Start with a spoiler-free video guide to the context and filmmaking choices worth noticing.
Spoiler-free02
After the film
Return after watching for a deeper video analysis of craft, meaning, and legacy.
Contains spoilers03
Quiz yourself
Answer 50 questions with clear rationales designed to make the ideas stick.
50 questions in this journeyWant to try a complete journey on the web? The Citizen Kane page includes the spoiler-free guide, after-film analysis, and a sample quiz.
Try Citizen Kane →Film data and images provided by TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.